New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1887-02-09
Ron q CE OF a FIR PILLOW.

ldTI,fFlS DAZ1r.
he was q bright, handsome young
fellow OF perhaps five and twenty,
while, demure spinster well into
the the fifties, looked quite old enough to
be his mother
So the gossips at tile little summer
motel l'taa where we were boarding could
really find nothing to say, though we
often had long talks together, this
young Jack Turner and myself, when
we happened to meet in the parlor or
out on the piazzas.
The special craze among our young
lady boarders just then was the
making OF all sorts of pretty
pillows, which they filled with
pine needles or buds OF the ira
grant balsam fir, and embroidered
with various appropriate notices,
such as Dream of the woods" 'The
pines shall whisper peace" s'Give me
of your balm, O Fir-tree,' etc, etc.
And as the picking of these pine nee
.dles and pitchy fr-tips was disagreed
tbie work for dainty white fingers, it
was quite the fashion for all the chiv-
alric young men in the house to vol
unteer their services in this inltiatory
part of the work. Moreover, there
was not a little rivalry among them
as to who should find the most fra
egrant trees, a species of the balsam
sir denominated strawberry being
sthe rarest and most in demand.
was therefore not at all surprised
when this new acquaintance OF mine,
having found out my botanic procliv-
ities, came to me one bright morning
with an Immense tow bag slung across
his shoulders, and announced his in
tention Of picking fir in some remote
woods on the other side OF the mount
ain. Would [ go with him and show
him the right kind of tree? He had
brought back q whole bagful OF worth
less stuff the day before, and all be-
cause he couldn't tell a spruce tree
from a fir
How could | resist such a pathetic
appeal especially when hec,uld show
me in this particular piece of woods
rare and beautiful species of orchid
that had long been trying to find?
No! could't refuse. So Jack with
mis- bag and l with my basket started
of in high spirits that glorious sum
mer morning. It was one of those
rare days III July when cool breath
from the mountains tempered the
midsummer heat and gave me an exhil.
arating sense OF what Longfellow
calls
= the electric thrill, the touch
OF lie that seems almost too much.
The three miles walk around the
mountain seemed as nothing, and we
soon reached our destination, the
broad, dark belt of woodland that
enclosed, like a velvet girdle, the pict-
11resuue little lake at the foot of the
highest peak. Jack had proved him
self a most entertaining companion
all the way. He reminded me of a
dear young nephew I had lost, and,
although week before we had been
total strangers, | was glad to notice
that he seemed to regard me already
as ell old and tried friend. Upon one
subject, however, he was very reticent.
When I had found for him a clump of
lokingly asked him for which of our
pretty young ladies he was going to
pick the fir, he looked up quickly, and
s6ben, with a confused look on his
frank cOuntenance, said:
ooh, it is for no one here; it is for
some one miles and miles away. And
do you think" he added, with an alb
stracted air quite foreign to his usual
manner, that it is really a. cure for
consumption
Hardly cure" I answered, "al-
though I've known it to give relief in
many cases ofconfrmed lung trouble"
The young man sighed heavily.
Well, = he replied, after a long silence,
81 am determined to try every thing
for her"
OF course, my sympathies were i'm
5mediately aroused. [ began at once
to picture to myself the pale young
girl in her far-off home, fading away
day by day, like some frail, sweet
flower
HAS she been i'll a long time?' |
ventured at last to inquire.
or more than year, he answer-
ed briefly, and then quickly turned
the conversation upon some other
ysubject. Still, I could not help no.
'ticing that q heavy burden evidently
Elay upon his mind, that, try as hard
-as he might, he could not entirely
shake off,
Now, do not think am over sym
pathetic, or have more than the or
binary amount of curiosity usually at
Gributed to woman kind, but all the